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Dr. Weber on Racial Unrest

Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, gave an emotional speech June 3, at a press conference held at the California State Capitol. 

On Wednesday, June 10, one of Weber’s bills, ACA 5, co-authored by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), will be taken up on the Assembly floor.  If passed, ACA 5 would give voters a new chance to weigh in on affirmative action, which was banned when voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996. Supporters say ACA 5 would remove roadblocks to opportunities for women and people of color.

African Americans And Racial Violence In The Time of COVID-19

High profile acts of violence against African American men have been recorded and broadcast widely in recent weeks, including the death of a Minneapolis man, George Floyd.

USC experts share their expertise on how racial violence and recordings of these episodes intersect with history, law and health outcomes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even Ivy League degrees don’t protect African Americans

Francille Rusan Wilson

“A deathly disregard for black lives is the blood red thread stitched into the very fabric of our nation. As a historian of the black past, I am all too familiar with the litany of torture, lynchings, rapes, false imprisonment, peonage, convict leasing, mass incarceration and medical apartheid from 1619 to 2020.  As the mother of two black men, I live in fear of their injury, arrest or demise at the hands of a capricious passerby, contemptuous police officers, or uncaring physicians. The casual refusal by every level of government of black men and women’s right to breathe, bird or just be in their own bed or kitchen or car is soul crushing. 

“My three Ivy League degrees do not provide me with any more PPE against racism and white supremacy than Christian Cooper’s Harvard B.A. did in Central Park.”

Francille Rusan Wilson is an associate professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, History, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the immediate past president of the Association of Black Women Historians.

Contact: frwilson@usc.edu

Police racial violence should be every American’s concern

Jody Armour

“The core concern of the #BlackLivesMatter movement from its very inception has been the indifference or outright hostility of state actors like police officers and prosecutors to the value of black lives. Unlike private individuals, when state actors attack and disrespect citizens, they implicate all Americans because they act in our name and on our behalf. When a police officer is killed in the line of duty, law enforcement representatives have been quick to assert that an attack on an officer is an attack on America.

“By the same token, when an officer unjustifiably brutalizes or kills a black person, that’s not just a private citizen attacking another private citizen, that’s America assailing that black man, woman, or child. Cops don’t get to be equated with America when they are victims but then reduced to ordinary private citizens when they are victimizers.”

Jody Armour studies the intersection of race and legal decision making as well as torts and tort reform movements as the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law.

Contact: armour@law.usc.edu or (213) 740-2559

The loop of videos takes a toll on kids

Brendesha_Tynes.152214

“My work has shown that when adolescents of color watch viral videos of police racial violence online, that exposure is associated with increased depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress symptoms.”

“During the coronavirus pandemic, students’ classes and social lives are almost entirely online. Previously, young people had a traditional setting where they could find in-person social support if they are feeling overwhelmed by what they are seeing in digital spaces and not ready to share with members of their family. Now, young people may not have that buffer against poor mental health outcomes.

“We can’t underestimate the importance of touch and the ability to see the physical cues that someone is in distress. There is power in the in-person connections people make that we haven’t yet been able to replicate in the most common digital contexts.”

Brendesha Tynes is an associate professor of education and psychology at the USC Rossier School of Education. Her recent research has examined the association between exposure to violent racial videos online and mental health in African American and Latinx adolescents.

Contact: btynes@usc.edu

Images of racial violence can be exploitative

Alissa Richardson

“To me, airing the tragic footage on TV, in auto-play videos on websites and social media is no longer serving its social justice purpose, and is now simply exploitative.

“Likening the fatal footage of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd to lynching photographs invites us to treat them more thoughtfully. We can respect these images. We can handle them with care.

“It’s time to revisit the relationship we have with cellphone videos and social media. Trauma is compounding for many African Americans, who are already fighting a separate, disproportionate battle against COVID-19.”

Allissa Richardson is an assistant professor of communication and journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the author of the book, Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism.

Contact: allissar@usc.edu or (213) 740-9700

Stress from racism leads to poor health outcomes

April Thames

“For African Americans, the most stressful part of experiencing discrimination is not knowing when it’s going to happen next. That’s the key. Widely-circulated videos of violence against black people add to this anticipatory anxiety.

“This has implications for African Americans’ health outcomes during the coronavirus pandemic. Chronic stress can alter the expression of genes that are involved in both the antiviral and the inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation is involved in a number of health conditions including autoimmune conditions, diabetes and obesity. There have been several studies showing higher inflammatory markers in African Americans, so it’s not surprising that this group is disproportionately impacted and dying at higher rates from COVID-19.”

April Thames is an associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Her research has focused on how racist experiences increase inflammation in African American individuals, raising their risk of chronic illness.

Contact: thames@usc.edu

All Four Former Officers Involved in George Floyd’s Killing Now Face Charges

According to CNN, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is increasing charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to second-degree murder in George Floyd’s killing and also charging the other three officers involved in the incident, according to a tweet from US Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Ellison’s official announcement is expected to come Wednesday afternoon, more than a week after Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests that call for the end to police violence against black citizens.

Chauvin, who had his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, had previously been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Officers Thomas Lane and J.A. Keung, who helped restrain Floyd, and a fourth officer, Tou Thao, who stood near the others, were not initially charged.

Two autopsies on Floyd determined that he died by homicide. Minneapolis Police chief Medaria Arradondo fired the four officers and said they were “complicit” in Floyd’s death. Floyd’s family and protesters nationwide have called for them to be arrested and convicted for the killing.

George Floyd died while in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

According to the video and the criminal complaint, Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe, as witnesses protested that he was dying, and even as Lane twice asked to turn him onto his side. Still, Chauvin kept his knee on his neck for almost three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive, the complaint states.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, said on Twitter that the family was gratifiedwith the new charges. 

“FAMILY REACTION: This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that (Ellison) took decisive action, arresting & charging ALL the officers involved in #GeorgeFloyd’s death & upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder,” he said.

Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder is defined as causing the death of a person “by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind,” without regard for life but without intent to kill.

Second-degree murder, a more serious charge, is defined as when a person causes the death of another with intent to effect the death of that person but without premeditation.

Minnesota AG cautioned for patience

Ellison was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to take over the case from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Sunday.

Why the three other officers in George Floyd’s death have not been charged — yet

A former Demoratic congressman, Ellison previously said that he had “every expectation” that charges will be filed against the officers and that he hoped they’d come soon. But on Monday, after taking over the case, he cautioned against a rush to judgment and said prosecutors will be careful and methodical in bringing charges.

“We are moving as expeditiously, quickly and effectively as we can,” he said. “But I need to protect this prosecution. I am not going to create a situation where somebody can say this was a rush to judgement.”

Police officers are rarely charged with crimes for violence against black men, and even in those rare cases, juries have repeatedly shown an unwillingness to convict. The list of such failed cases is long.

In 2017, for example, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Castile was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter and intentional discharge of firearm that endangers safety.

Black Youth Are Central Force in California George Floyd Protests

By Antonio Ray Harvey

There are many aspects to the protests occurring in cities and towns up and down the state of California. One that stands out is the participation of young, Black people.

Outspoken, courageous, and committed, these young African Americans have become, by default, the anchors in a mass movement sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.  

Although they are diverse group of Black youth – by political identification, education, where they are from in the state, and more – they are all uniquely equipped to articulate and bear witness to the racial and economic injustices that a multiracial coalition of Californians have now made their cause.

“At the end of the day everybody here is united, and we all want justice for George Floyd. Period,” said Jamier Sale, 28, co-founder of Cell Block By Cell Block, a community-based organization in Sacramento that focuses on criminal justice reform.  

Across California, Latinos, Asians, Arab Americans, and Whites — Christian, Jewish, Muslim, et al — have jumped into action with passion. But the presence of Black youth, millennials between the ages of 25 and 39 and the Generation Z crowd born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, has become central to holding down the coalition of people raising their voices and fists in unified condemnation of police violence and discrimination.

Sale, who is also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a progressive political action organization, attended a demonstration at the State Capitol in Sacramento this past weekend. Thousands of people gathered at the rally to protest Floyd’s murder.  Sale and other members of the youth-led movement met officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) at the steps on the east side of the state building adjacent to California State Capitol Park.

 “You can name the names (of all the people who experienced police brutality) because everybody comes with their own history, but this is about George Floyd,” Sale told California Black Media (CBM).

On Memorial Day, Floyd, 46, died in police custody after a White Minneapolis Police Department officer pinned him down and pressed his knee into the African American man’s neck for nearly nine minutes. A cellphone video showed Floyd telling the cops, “I can’t breathe.”

Like Sacramento, at demonstrations in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, Modesto and more Golden State cities, youthful Black faces have become conspicuous in the crowds of activists and citizens calling for justice as well as peace.

The Floyd tragedy shifted the country’s consciousness from the COVID-19 pandemic to the fraught and distrustful relationship, rooted in a well-documented history of violence, that persists between African Americans and law enforcement. 

Most of the demonstrations across the country started as peaceful marches, but, for days now, they have escalated into violent rioting and rebellions that have rocked every major city in the United States as well as in California. The riots have resulted in several deaths, mass looting, arson, vandalism, and billions of dollars in property loss.

For instance, in Sacramento the movement began peacefully in the city’s oldest suburban neighborhood Oak Park on the night of May 29. Thousands of protesters, the majority of them young people, gathered to kick off the protests organized by Black Lives Sacramento (BLMS). 

The CHP officers expected the crowd to attempt a march down one of the nearby Highway 99 off-ramps. The north-south interstate is a major California intra-state freeway that runs through the San Joaquin valley.

But, according to Tanya Faison, founder of BLMS, that was not a part of the group’s protest plan.

“Just to let you know, CHP is deep on the other side of that bridge. They are not going to let us get on that freeway,” Faison said, speaking into a bullhorn to the large crowd. “But one of the police stations is right around the corner.”

The protestors marched a little more than a mile to the Joseph E. Rooney Police facility of the Sacramento Police Department, a substation in South Sacramento. When they arrived, a few Sacramento Police officers emerged from the facility in riot gear toting rifles that shoot rubber bullets. 

The confrontation between the young people and the police was contentious, but it did not get physical. Stevante Clark, the older brother of Stephon Clark, who was killed by two Sacramento police officers in March 2018, described how he felt about the march.

“This all brought me back to my brother and Eric Garner,” said Clark, 27. “We’re hurt, and we all feel the same way, though a cop has been charged. As for George Floyd, justice is still being denied. There are still killer cops on the streets.”

Garner, the man who Clark was referring to, died after New York City cops held him in a chokehold in 2014. The incident happened on Staten Island, one of the city’s five boroughs. He was also African American.

The next day, Clark participated in a demonstration at the State Capitol where he and other activists met CHP officers who had formed a perimeter around the building where California’s laws are made.

Grace Swint, 29, from the San Francisco Bay Area, was one of the young protesters that helped lead the rally that went on for hours. Swint told CBM that she appreciated non-Black people participating in the movement, but she had to ask them what they would do once the rallies subsided.

“Personally, I’m just out here to make sure they are focusing that energy in the right place and that they know what to do when they go home,” Swint said. “This is good but it is not enough. I know for a fact that media and propaganda … they feed off of our emotions. It’s a good outlet to let those emotions and opinions out. But what are you going to do when you leave here? I need to make sure that they understand that.”  

Since the demonstrations began in the state capital, there have been some non-fatal casualties. Late night on May 30, two protestors, one female the other male, were hit by rubber bullets when a deputy from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department shot them in downtown Sacramento, according to several local news reports.  

The female, struck in the face during the peaceful protest, is 18 years old and the male is 19. The Sheriff’s office had a different take on the situation and released a statement telling its version of the events.

‘The initial investigation indicates the subject was throwing objects at the offices and deputies prior to being struck by a less than lethal weapon that was utilized by a few of the officers to stop the assault,” the Sheriff’s office said in a written statement.

The protests continued through Sunday in Sacramento with the youth still leading the way. There were reports of store break-ins and property damage around the city that increased after nightfall.  

Sale said that society must begin to understand how people between the ages of 13 and 39 think. It’s a generation that must be reckoned with and they “bounce their energy off of each other’s energy,” Sale said.

“Between each other, they have so many forms of communications that older people don’t know about. (If society) doesn’t absorb the energy of the youth, the youth are going to create their own organizations to replace the current organizations.”

African American Organizations Call for Riverside County Supervisors to Form Taskforce to Save Black Lives

RIVERSIDE, CA—- Leading black organizations sent letters requesting for the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to create an African American Fatality Taskforce. Participating organizations include:

  • Riverside NAACP
  • Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE)
  • Riverside County Black Chamber of Commerce
  • 100 Black Men of the Inland Empire
  • Coalition for Black Health and Wellness
  • The Black Collective
  • The Black Student Advocate

The letters state “we are calling the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to establish a county African American Fatality Taskforce to propose recommendations to you on addressing the mortality rate and addressing the historic underlined conditions that are contributing to it. The county is in the position to finally bring justice to this community. We ask that you please act now.”

The African American community has historically been marginalized and oppressed since the founding of this nation and county. Due to these historical atrocities, the African American community has biological, social, and emotional adverse outcomes that is being passed from one generation to another. Covid-19 has only magnified the systemic inequalities that persist in the United States and Riverside County. And nonwhite Americans, especially African Americans, have been hit hard on nearly every front.

African Americans are dying at disproportionately higher rates compared to all other ethnicities. As of last week, 16,329 black Americans are known to have died due to Covid-19, according to an analysis from the American Public Media (APM) Research Lab. That’s out of approximately 61,000 deaths for which race and ethnicity data was available. About 75,000 people total had lost their lives to the coronavirus at the time of the analysis, a number that has risen to more than 77,000. African Americans make up about 13% of the US population, according to the Census Bureau, but 27% of known Covid-19 deaths.

In Riverside County we are seeing the same disproportionate fatality rates as we are seeing throughout the nation.

Rancho Cucamonga Native Maintains Aircraft at Sea

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Maxwell Higgins, USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) – A Rancho Cucamonga, California, Sailor was serving as an aviation maintenance technician aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) on Aviation Maintenance Technician Day, May 24.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Julia Carrasco reported to the “Knighthawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136’s airframes division in August 2018 as an Aviation Structural Mechanic.

Aircraft carrier flight operations would not be possible without the aircraft maintainers that work around the clock to make sure the aircraft are mission ready.

“My job means not only maintaining the aircraft itself but the pilot’s and crew’s life,” said Carrasco.

A maintainer must be properly qualified due to the complexity and safety-of-flight related equipment they work on. Each maintainer undergoes specific technical training that pertains to their assigned rating before they are allowed to start working on aircraft or equipment.

“I maintain all hydraulic and structural components of F/A-18s, including the landing gear, tires and tale hooks,” said Carrasco.

Within the Navy, maintainers can work in a variety of different places and with a wide range of people.

“Seeing how we as team are constantly improving and getting better is really amazing,” said Carrasco. I really enjoy swapping out tires. For the most part, it’s like changing a tire on a car. A car that that flies through air at hundreds of miles per hour.”

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) remains at sea in the Atlantic as a certified carrier strike group force ready for tasking in order to protect the crew from the risks posed by COVID-19, following their successful deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. Keeping HSTCSG at sea in U.S. 2nd Fleet, in the sustainment phase of OFRP, allows the ship to maintain a high level of readiness during the global COVID-19 pandemic

For more news from Truman, visit www.navy.mil/local.cvn75/, www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

New guidelines allow places of worship to resume services

The County today announced the reopening of places of worship with new State- specified guidelines. Under the new State guidance, issued this morning, places of worship can hold religious services, including funerals, if attendance is limited to 25 percent of a building’s capacity, but no more than 100 attendees.

“This is a great first step for our residents of faith who have refrained from gathering for more than two months,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “The COVID- 19 virus is still very present throughout our county. With places of worship, dine-in restaurants, stores, and malls now suddenly open, it is more important than ever that we practice physical distancing, wear face coverings in public, and frequently wash our hands to protect ourselves and those around us.”

The State issued new guidance for religious services and cultural ceremonies, https://covid19.ca.gov/pdf/guidance-places-of-worship.pdf, that encourage organizations to continue online services and activities, especially for the protection of those who are most at risk from COVID-19, including older adults and people with specific medical conditions.

To reopen for religious services and funerals, places of worship must:

  • Establish and implement a COVID-19 prevention plan for every location, train staff on the plan, and regularly evaluate workplaces for compliance.
  • Train employees and volunteers on COVID-19, including how to prevent it from spreading and which underlying health conditions may make individuals more susceptible to contracting the virus.
  • Implement cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
  • Set physical distancing guidelines.
  • Recommend that staff and guests wear cloth face coverings, and screen staff for temperature and symptoms at the beginning of their shifts.
  • Set parameters around or consider eliminating singing and group recitations. These activities dramatically increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission. For this reason, congregants engaging in singing, particularly in the choir, and group recitation should wear face coverings at all times and when possible, these activities should be conducted outside with greater than 6-foot distancing.

Not adhering to all of the guidelines in their entirely could result in the spread of illness and the re-closing of places of worship. In 21 days, the State Department of Public Health, in consultation with the County Department of Public Health, will review and

assess the impact of the religious services guidelines and provide further direction as part of a phased-in restoration of activities. This 21-day interval accounts for seven days for religious communities to prepare and reopen in addition to a 14-day incubation period of COVID-19.

Local information about COVID-19 can be found on the County’s COVID-19 website, http://sbcovid19.com.

Part of Leaving Your Legacy is Taking the Burden Off of Your Loved Ones

RIVERSIDE, CA—- COVID19 has taken a toll on our World in several different ways; from economics to families not able to say their final and proper good-byes to loved ones lost during this time due to the limit of how many people can attend funeral services. Speaking of funeral services, how prepared are you for when that times comes? Will your family be able to bury with a peace of mind knowing that everything for a suitable memorial is covered?

Some will say, “Yes, of course!”, many will say no, and some will say that they have life insurance, so doesn’t that cover funeral expenses? While Life insurance is great, it is different from pre-need insurance. Life insurance is for the living, while pre-need is for those who have passed. Life insurance seeks to give a degree of coverage and peace of mind for survivors of the insured; it is perpetual meaning that as long as you are alive you pay life insurance.

FEP Consultants helps clients to understand the difference between the two. Once clients know how life insurance and pre-need differs, FEP Consultants guides them in setting and locking in their desires on how they would like their life to be celebrated. For example, pre-need identifies cremation and burial. All that determines the casket, flowers, hearse, mortuary, embalming and more. The purpose of pre-need is to create peace knowing that all of your wishes are accounted for.

“I sleep much better knowing that Porsha will be available to present my heirs with my final wishes for less than what I used to spend daily on Starbucks,” Veronica Lawrence, FEP client, explains. “No car wash or selling dinners for loved ones. They can mourn and celebrate my life without having to experience additional or unnecessary financial or emotional stress or hardship. Best decision I made.”

FEP Consultants is the premier pre-need provider for memorial and burial services. They help families to keep their dignity. One of the most loving gifts you can give your loved ones is making arrangements in advanced. There is no need for car washes, selling dinner plates, creating GoFund Me accounts or just flat out begging. FEP Consultants can meet anyone’s budget; with them “no detail is too small”.

“What encouraged me to get a policy was seeing people holding signs asking for donations to bury a family member that had passed away,” Darryl Gross, FEP client, stated. “I couldn’t allow my family to go through such heartache and stress.”

Pre-need is completely transferrable, it goes whenever you go. Pre-need protects you from the negative effects of inflation by locking in the price of your service. It is customizable, allowing you to make changes according to the individual. Most importantly, you pay pre-need off; life insurance you can’t pay off.

For more information about Pre-need services and how you can set yours up, please contact Porsha Harris at (951) 269-3556 or visit www.fepconsultants.org.

The Legacy of a Pivotal Community Leader: Dr. E. Abdulmu’min Will Truly Be Missed

Edited By Naomi K. Bonman via CAIR-Greater Los Angeles

On Monday, May 18, 2020, the community lost one of its pivotal leaders, Dr. E. Abdulmu’min. He was also a was a pillar of the American Muslim community in the Inland Empire.

“My father Dr. Abdulmumin was something to everyone. He was a pillar to his community, always giving to others, a mentor and a father figure to many,” Rabyya Abdulmumin, daughter of the late Dr. Abdulmumin stated. “He always had a smile on his face, he laughed and made others laugh. He more than anything loved Ramadan. For as far my memory goes back my dad spent every Ramadan feeding others. He spent every Ramadan night at the front row praying taraweh prayer. May Allah reward him for his good deeds and give him the highest level of Jannah.”

Dr. Abdulmumin with his daughter Rabyya
Dr. Abdulmumin with his daughter Rabyya

In 2000, Dr. Abdulmumin established the DuBois Institute which specialized in nurturing and empowering youth and families, especially within the underserved African American community in Riverside’s Eastside community.

Dr. Abdulmumin was a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and professor with more than 35 years of university teaching experience and working with youth and adults in the community, educational, mental health and juvenile/criminal justice settings.

He was a compassionate, respected, and loved servant leader within the African American, Muslim, and larger communities.

Dr. Abdulmumin (right) and Keasuc Hill (left)
Dr. Abdulmumin (right) and Keasuc Hill (left)

“Imam/Dr. E.M. Abdulmumin is the man that found me Wayward and full of Rage and introduced me to Islam. When I wasn’t even allowed to attend school along with general population, he encouraged me to attend college where I would later earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Laverne in behavior science,” Keasuc Hill explained. “He saw in me a leader of people when I had forgotten that I was even a person. He flipped the prison industrial complex by doing the undoable; he transformed a population of juvenile delinquents into grown men. He was my Mentor.”

We are saddened by his loss. We pray Allah has mercy on him for he has returned to his Lord during the blessed month of Ramadan. We also pray that Allah makes these difficult times easy on his family and we offer our sincere condolences to them and to the many people who loved Dr. Abdulmumin.

Verily, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.

Remembering ‘The Clean Up Woman’: The Legacy of Betty Wright

Via The Guardian

The singer and songwriter Betty Wright, who has died of cancer aged 66, occupied a significant position in African-American music across six decades, beginning with powerhouse gospel in the 1950s and settling on an R&B, soul and funk groove from the 60s onwards that eventually led to work with superstar rappers of the 2000s.

Wright’s career began as a young child in a gospel group in Florida, and her signature song, Clean Up Woman (1971), was recorded when she was only 17, epitomising what became known as “the Miami sound” – Floridian soul music shaped by the many facets of her home city’s cultural melange.

After years of solid achievement in the US as a singer and songwriter, in the mid-80s she set up her own record label and, although she continued to record her own material, began to make a new name for herself as a producer and songwriter, collaborating with the likes of Gloria Estefan and Joss Stone. Later still her material was much sampled – including by Beyoncé – and she was able to undertake projects with rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne.

She was born in Miami, to Rosa (nee Braddy-Wright) and McArthur Norris. The infant Bessie – as Betty was christened – was co-opted into the family gospel group, the Echoes of Joy, at the age of two. The Echoes worked the Southern US gospel circuit and Bessie proved to be a vocal prodigy – so much so that by the time the group split in 1965, she was confident enough to start singing on her own, in a new R&B vein, and with a new name – Betty Wright.

Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid, two Miami-based musicians, were so impressed by the young girl that they signed her to Deep City, the only African-American record label in Florida. Wright’s debut 45, Paralysed, was released in 1965, and it sold well locally. However, Deep City lacked the resources to promote records properly, and so Reid and Clarke eventually passed Wright on to Henry Stone, a distributor with experience and contacts who was launching Alston Records in Miami.

Aged 14, Wright recorded her debut album for Alston, My First Time Around (1968), which not only revealed her to be a formidable soul singer but generated a single, Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do, that reached the Top 40s of the US and Canadian pop charts.

Although subsequent singles failed to make much of an impression, Wright continued to sing in the Miami clubs on the weekends, building up valuable contacts in the music business. Then chart success returned in 1971 with Clean Up Woman, written by Clarke and Reid, which got to No 6 in the US. Based around a distinctive guitar lick played by Willie Hale, Clean Up Woman’s breezy, danceable funk ensured that Wright would be one of the few school pupils ever to have turned 18 with a million-selling hit record behind her.

The song also helped to launch the Miami sound, whose origins Wright associated firmly with the city’s vibrant and fluctuating cultural scene. “You’ve got a little Cuba, a little Jamaica, and a little Haiti; you’ve got a large Jewish culture and you’ve got calypso,” she told Billboard magazine. “Then you’ve got people who were born here or came from South Carolina, where they’ve got a heavy African culture too. It’s a very rhythmic roots music. Even the white acts that come out of Miami tend to be very soulful. We’ve got that serious, serious conga rhythm.”

Wright continued to produce popular songs across the 1970s – Baby Sitter, Let Me Be Your Lovemaker, Secretary, Where is the Love?, Tonight is the Night – although none quite matched the success of Clean Up Woman and generally made more of an impact on the US R&B charts than in the pop sphere. A prolific songwriter, she won a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1976 for Where is the Love?, a song she had co-written.

Signing to Epic Records in 1981, Wright quickly grew disillusioned with the restrictions of being with a major company, and so launched her own Ms B record label in 1985. With her 1987 album Mother Wit she became the first African American woman to achieve a gold album on her own label.

From that point onwards, however, Wright began to achieve greater success by working with other artists. Estefan’s US No 1 single Coming Out of the Dark (1991) featured Wright’s vocal arrangements, and Wright co-produced and co-wrote every track on Stone’s 2004 album Mind, Body & Soul, which reached No 1 in the UK.

In 2006 she appeared as a mentor on the US reality TV talent show Making the Band, and in 2008 produced two songs on Tom Jones’s album 24 Hours. Her 2011 album, Betty Wright: The Movie, featured Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, and was praised by reviewers as her best effort in 30 years.

Wright continued to tour almost up to her death – she sold out the Barbican Centre in London in July 2019 – and earned considerable amounts from her back catalogue. Clean Up Woman has often been sampled, while Beyoncé used a section of Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do for her 2006 single Upgrade U.

In 1985 Wright married Noel “King Sporty” Williams, a Jamaican musician who had co-written the song Buffalo Soldier with Bob Marley. Noel died in 2015; Wright is survived by three daughters and a son. Another son, Patrick Parker, was murdered in 2005.

Betty Wright (Bessie Regina Norris), singer and songwriter, born 21 December 1953; died 10 May 2020